Firm Opens as Full-Service Sweepstakes Company

Nationalsweeps.com is expected to launch tomorrow as a full-service provider for companies looking to launch sweepstakes, contests and games.

While parent company National Sweepstakes Co. has already been creating online and offline sweepstakes for blue-chip clients such as American Express and Buick, the company expects this new site to solidify its capabilities.

For one thing, Nationalsweeps.com will host client programs on its servers. "Up to this point, our primary business has been handling sweepstakes for a variety of companies through a complete 'legal/admin' package that included online programs, but we used to do it at their site," said Doug Laughton, director of sales and marketing at Nationalsweeps.com, Rochester, NY. "We're adding our own hosting capabilities. One way of looking at it is we've always had the house, but now we're making our two-car garage [into] a three-car garage."

The site is launching with five packages. The Sweeps Admin Package offers complete logistical and administrative support for both online and traditional sweepstakes. This package is for companies that develop their own sweepstakes and host them on their internal servers.

The Plug & Pay Package offers Web-ready templates, hosted on a company's servers, that are custom-designed with the company's name, logo and message. Its Interaction Package includes online, custom-designed audio and animation for sweepstakes and games.

The Nationalsweeps Multi Comm Package enables companies to hold a single sweepstakes both online and by the more traditional methods of radio, TV, direct mail and toll-free numbers. This package merges Web site, mail-in and phone database information into a single database that can manage all the client's application data.

Finally, the Premiere Package includes a hybrid, customizable CD-ROM and all aspects of the Sweeps Admin package.

These offerings "range from simple to complex," Laughton said. "It's like ordering a pizza plain or with five different toppings." The packages begin at $10,000.